Thursday, January 15, 2009

A convincing victory against Catania and the qualification to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia show an improving condition after the difficult start against Siena. From the mid-week match Claudio Ranieri was able to point out a number of important indications with one in particular giving a shade of optimism to the future. The beginning of 2009 saw the return of players who had been injured for quite some time.

Amongst these is Cristiano Zanetti. The midfielder has recovered from the muscular injury suffered in Summer and gave one of his typical performances against Catania, a performance based on substance and great quality. A satisfactory performance on all levels:

"I am happy with how the match went and with how I played – he said speaking exclusively to Juventus.com – I had been away from the field for a long time but I immediately rediscovered the feeling with my team-mates. I feel well, my condition can only improve in the coming games".

After many (too many in fact) matches seen from the eyes of a spectator, Zanetti is back in the role of protagonist and was able to witness the will to win of Juventus from the field:

"Against Catania we played a good match. We entered the field concentrated and with the right frame of mind because we really wanted to go through. There has been a great improvement since the match against Siena but this is only normal. The break was long and getting immediately back into the rhythm of things is not easy".

The first step has been made and the team remains amongst those teams who are competing on three fronts. The bianconeri are therefore awaited by a great number of battles from now to May, however the prospects are good. We can take the word of veteran, Zanetti, on this:

"The Coppa Italia is one of our objectives just like the championship and the Champions League. We are doing well and therefore we do not want to limit ourselves. We can win all the competitions because we are a strong and complete squad".

"We have had to face heavy absences but who played instead did so excellently. This is a sign that the whole squad is competitive and when all are available we will be even stronger".